No, it's not lactose intolerance!
- deliciousyetdiffer
- May 10, 2022
- 5 min read
The difference between food allergies, coeliac, food intolerances, food prohibitions and food preferences.
"No it's not lactose intolerance, it is a dairy allergy. He will have an anaphylactic reaction if he eats dairy not a sore tummy" I have had to educate people about this many times over. It's hard there are a lot of different types of allergies, intolerances, prohibitions and preferences. If you are living it, it's your everyday but for others it can be a completely foreign concept.
I have been asked times if it annoys me that so many people have food intolerances and preferences these days, as it might dilute the message about life threatening allergies. For me the answer is, no. As someone with lots of allergies and intolerances and a family full of allergies, intolerances and preferences I get how hard it can be to 1) manage day to day and 2) communicate your needs and to eat out and have food prepared by others.
I believe if we all treat each other with respect and kindness, communicate our needs clearly, consider the reasonableness of our requests and listen carefully to the needs of others, we will be ok. Greater education and acceptance of all food limitations means better overall understanding.
So what are the differences and why are they important to know.....
Please note - I am not a dietician but these are my understandings of the differences based on personal experience living with many allergies, intolerances and preferences in our family, research and working with people with allergies. Follow the links provided if you would like to know more about each one.
Food Allergy
Usually, the first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think of food allergy is peanuts. It certainly seems to be the most well-known allergen. Yes, a peanut allergy is indeed a food allergy. A food allergy is an immune response to a food (allergen) that can be life threatening if a person experiences anaphylaxis. It usually occurs quite quickly after consuming the food. Symptoms can be mild (hives, swelling, vomiting) or severe, otherwise known as anaphylaxis (dry cough, hoarse voice, impending sense of doom, low blood pressure, dizziness, constriction of the airways). Anaphylaxis is a life threatening condition, it is important to know the symptoms and treatment well. See the link below for more.
Someone with a food allergy cannot consume the food that causes their allergy. The tiniest protein can cause an allergic reaction and potentially anaphylaxis. There is no cure for food allergies and the only way to manage it is through strict avoidance of the food. We must be careful of allergens in all foods, asking about allergens, checking labels carefully, deciding whether to risk eating food that may contain traces, and carrying EpiPens in case of an anaphylactic reaction.
Nine foods cause around 90% of allergies, dairy, egg, peanuts, treenuts, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish and sesame. However, any food can be an allergen. I have a son who is severely allergic to sunflower seeds which are considered to be an allergy friendly food and have meet people with watermelon, pineapple and eggplant allergies.
If someone informs you they are allergic to a food it is very important to take it seriously and treat it as the life threatening condition that it is. Make sure you understand how to be allergy aware and how to avoid cross contamination.
It gets a little more complex as there are other immune mediated types of food allergies (the ones described above are called IgE Mediated) including FPIES and EoE. These don’t lead to anaphylaxis but they can still cause very serious health complications. There are some links below if you wanted to know more about these conditions.
Coeliac
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition, those who have it cannot consume gluten. Even small amounts of gluten can damage the small intestine. This causes problems in the body including inflammation and preventing the proper absorption of nutrients.
Coeliac is a serious condition and similar to food allergies, people with coeliac disease avoid all gluten including traces. Coeliac is one condition we do not manage in our house, but I know many families with it and they sometimes choose to have no gluten in the house and if they do they have different utensils including toasters to avoid cross contamination. Even small amounts of gluten can cause someone with Coeliac to become very sick, there is no cure only strict avoidance of gluten.
Coeliac is different from gluten intolerance (see below)
Food Intolerances
Food intolerances and/or sensitivities covers a broad range of adverse reactions to foods that primarily occur in the digestive system. It could be anything from IBS, gas, bloating, mouth ulcers, rashes, and headaches and more.
Food intolerances are not life threatening but if not managed well these can cause long term issues with health and wellbeing. Some people will avoid the food completely, others will lessen their intake, others may even ignore the symptoms and continue to eat the foods despite the discomfort (guilty of that one right here!). Dairy, lactose and gluten are common intolerances but people can be sensitive to many different foods and preservatives.
This link from ASCIA has a great diagram that shows the conditions that are food allergies (immune system) and those that are intolerances (digestive system).
Food prohibitions
These are the rules about food codified by religion, culture or otherwise (tradition, pregnancy etc). They can be about types of food or combinations or food that may not be eaten and/or the way food is prepared or slaughtered. There are many different food prohibitions across the world. Like with everything there will be personal differences some people may choose strict avoidance and others may follow the rules in a less strict manner.
Food preferences
Food preferences are a personal like or dislike for certain foods, and evaluative attitudes towards foods. It is about choice to eat in a certain way and have a certain diet. These can vary greatly, from foods people simply like or dislike certain foods, to specific dietary sets, where people have chosen to eat or not eat certain foods due to their values or evaluations of these foods. People have different reasons for why they eat in a certain way.
Dietary sets or preferences such as vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian and so on may be considered food preferences or prohibitions. This can vary from person to person, depending on how they view it and their reason for choosing a certain dietary set.
Hope that helps!
I plan to share lots more on this blog around cross contamination and safe food prep and communicating about your food limitations.
In the meantime, if you have a food limitation communicate clearly and honestly and consider the reasonableness of your requests. If you are catering for someone with food limitations, be sure to listen carefully, understand the difference between different food limitations and consider whether you can provide appropriate and safe food, it’s ok if you can’t, it isn’t always possible.
We are all just doing our best
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